CHOPS & CHANCES

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XI, Issue 542, 9 May 1901, Page 19

CHOPS & CHANCES

Alexander Robinson, licensee of the Yanco Glen Hotel, near Broken Hill, and a son of his were recently drowned in a dam. Transfers of licenses have been granted as follows:—Criterion Hotel, from John Morrison to F P. O'Dowd, and the Queen’s Head Hotel from Edward Blair to W F. Brown.

Mr James Verrail, ot the Bricklayers Arms Hotel, has been a licensee for for 20 years, and had, by *his evidence in Court the other day, never been convicted of a breach of the licensing laws.

Beer duty for the month or April shows a decrease of £202 Os Bd, as against the same month of last year, the figures in 1900 being £1649 2s 2d, and this year £1447 Is 6d.

The mummified remains of a cat and a rat are the result of an exploration among the ruins of Mr Rae’s Hotel at Wairoa, Lake Tarawera. This house was destroyed by the eruption in ’B6. In the United States maize is extensively used in the manufacture of whisky. It is probable that more of that grain is used than all other grains c ombined. In a Supreme Court recently an accused man Madder r<lated a peculiar experience of men “when in their cups ” He said that at various times during a “drunk *’ a man got lucid intervals. and then his memory became oblivion again. There were many, he said, in the Court, who could tell the Bench. The remark caused a general smile. Old Gentleman (bestowing a trifle): “Poor fellow ! What has brought you to this serious condition of suffering ?” Beggar: “ Temperance, sor.” Old Gentleman (astonished): “Temperance?” Beggar: “Yes, sor. Oi’ve done nothing all day but sit in the park and drink water ; but with the help of your honour’s sixpence Oi’ll be a new man in a few minutes.”

It was most tmphatically not a nice fresh egg ; the most skilful frying extant in cabsheltt rdom had not disguised the fact that it was of the nest, nesty The aged driver who had ordered it gazed at it fitfully, then turned his head and reswallowed his rising bile. “ What ha’ ye got to find fault abaht naow, George?” growled”the chef. “’Arry,” replied the old cabman, sadly, “I can’t ’elp a-thinkin’ as this ain’t square treatment of an old customer like me. Why, this ’ere lot ’as been sent back, an’ sent back, an’ sent back by one an’ the other till it's got ruddy-well frayed at the edges!”—‘Sporting Times.”

Waihi has had quite a busy time lately. The Conciliation Board has been sitting there for some time now, and the place is thronged with visitors. The four large hotels in this town •eem to be all doing well to judge by appearances. The Sterling Hotel has been considerably enlarged since my last visit a year ago, and is now a fine building. Mr E. Billing has had many improvements effected since he assumed the proprietorship, and visitors will find this a most convenient and comfortable hotel in which to stay.

During the Easter holidays Te Aroha had an unusual number of visitors, with the result that the hotel accommodation was taxed to the uttermost. The Grand Hotel there is now under the proprietorship of Mr O. F. Pilling, who has made considerable improvements both in the way of conveniences, and in the management of the hotel. Visitors cannot do better than put up at this hostelry, and in Mr Pilling will be found a thorough sport and a good all-round fellow.

The Criterion Hotel at Paeroa is now under Mr F. Gimblett’s proprietorship. This is a fine hotel, fitted with every convenience and conducted in first-class style. The splendid large commercial-room is a feature of the establishment, and, in fact, commercials find the hotel admirably suited in every respect to their special calling. Visitors receive every attention from both Mr and Mrs Gimblett, who are deservedly most popular with the travelling public. While passing through Paeroa recently I looked in at the Commercial, and was pleased to find Mr Shaw, the popular proprietor, looking better in health than for many months past This is the sporting hotel of the district, and always receives its due share of patronage. The worthy host looks well after all his patrons, while Mrs Shaw, with her pleasant and kindly manner, makes any stranger feel at home right away. ' A party of temperance fanatics raided a liquor saloon in Winfield, Kansas, on February 13th. The result was deplorable. The saloon was completely wrecked. Two women were shot, one fatally, and the bar-tender was seriously wounded with a hatchet. The raiders included 500 Methodist theological students, who chased the men who had fired on them, and threatened to lynch them.

What is claimed to be the largest warehouse in the world is the mammoth tobacco warehouse at the Stanley Dock, Liverpool. It is fourteen storeys high, has a length of 725 feet, a width of 165 feet, a height of 180 feet, a floor capacity of 36 acres—sufficient to store 60,000 hogsheads standing on end. The cost of the warehouse is put at about £300,000.